Editors’ Collection

Our Best Birthday Cakes

Celebrate your favorite person with these delicious birthday cakes from NYT Cooking.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.

Recipes

Classic White Cake
Yossy Arefi
271 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
271
2 hours 20 minutes
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Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
1273 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,273
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4476 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,476
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
204 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
204
2 hours 40 minutes
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Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
11512 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
11,512
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Coconut and Mango Layer Cake
Yewande Komolafe, Dria Atencio
13 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
13
3 hours 5 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake
Adrianna Adarme
116 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
116
1 hour 30 minutes
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Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
455 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
455
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
1308 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,308
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
407 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
407
About 3 hours
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Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
1803 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,803
About 2 hours
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Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3385 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,385
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
272 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
272
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
141 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
141
About 7 hours 20 minutes
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Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3572 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,572
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
911 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
911
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
553 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
553
1 hour and 50 minutes
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Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2488 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,488
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1764 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,764
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2172 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,172
45 minutes
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Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
95 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
95
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
2017 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,017
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2310 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,310
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1423 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,423
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
277 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
277
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
976 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
976
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1112 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,112
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1825 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,825
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2293 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,293
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2188 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,188
50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
503 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
503
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1819 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,819
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
732 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
732
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3589 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,589
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
565 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
565
2 hours, plus baking/cooling
or to save this recipe.
Devil's Food White-Out Cake
Emily Weinstein, Dorie Greenspan
296 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
296
1 hour 40 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Milk and Honey Cake
Melissa Clark, Odette Williams
1383 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,383
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2314 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,314
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
682 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
682
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1912 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,912
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4732 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,732
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
335 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
335
1 hour, plus 8 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
468 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
468
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
5139 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
5,139
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
880 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
880
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
490 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
490
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Birthday Baked Alaska
Dorie Greenspan, Zoë François
684 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
684
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
577 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
577
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
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